A growing percentage of the economy of the United States and other advanced industrial countries in Europe and Asia depends on imports and
exports. In 2012, more than 33 percent of the U.S. economy resulted from
foreign trade, both imports and exports. In Europe and Asia, the number
exceeded 50 percent. Many Fortune 500 U.S. firms derive half their revenues
from foreign operations. For instance, 85 percent of Intel’s revenues in 2011
came from overseas sales of its microprocessors. Eighty percent of the toys
sold in the United States are manufactured in China, while about 90 percent
of the PCs manufactured in China use American-made Intel or Advanced
Micro Design (AMD) chips.
It’s not just goods that move across borders. So too do jobs, some of them
high-level jobs that pay well and require a college degree. In the past decade,
the United States lost several million manufacturing jobs to offshore, low-wage